Black History Month events at Ursinus

Several events are planned during Black History Month at Ursinus College, Main Street, Collegeville.

All events are free and open to the public.

Dr. Ibram H. Rogers, assistant professor in the Department of Africana Studies at the University at Albany – SUNY, will speak in Musser Auditorium in Pfahler Hall at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4.

He will speak on issues in his award-winning book, “The Black Campus Movement: Black Students and the Racial Reconstitution of Higher Education, 1965-1972.”

Rogers’ book was published in March 2012 as part of Palgrave Macmillan’s Contemporary Black History Series, edited by Tufts historian Peniel Joseph and Fairfield historian Yohuru Williams.

It earned the Diopian Institute for Scholarly Advancement’s 2012 Scholarly Book Award. He has published essays in books and academic journals, including The Journal of African American History, Journal of Social History, Journal of Black Studies, Journal of African American Studies, and The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics and Culture.

Rogers began his career as an assistant professor of African American history at SUNY College at Oneonta. He earned his doctoral degree in African American Studies from Temple University in 2010 and earned his undergraduate degrees from Florida A&M University. He has been the recipient of several grants and post-doctoral fellowships. He contributes a blog to Diverse: Issues in Higher Education titled “From Uni-versity to Multi-versity.”

Patricia Schroeder Ph.D., McClure Professor of English and Coordinator of American Studies at Ursinus College, will speak on “The History of Blackface,”4 to 5 p.m. Feb. 7 in Olin Hall.

Schroeder is a 1974 magna cum laude graduate of Ursinus College, and earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.

She teaches courses in American literature, African American literature and modern drama, as well as specialized courses in blues and literature, literature of mixed-race Americans, and emancipation narratives.

Her research interest has been in cultural studies, specifically the influence of blues music on American literature and legendary bluesman Robert Johnson as a cultural icon. Her 2004 book, Robert Johnson, Mythmaking, and Contemporary American Culture, was published by the New York: University of Illinois Press. She has written articles published in The Journal of American Culture, African American Review, Cambridge Companion of American Women Playwrights and other journals.

She serves as the coordinator of the American Studies program, and in spring 2010 was a Fulbright senior lecturer in American studies at the University of Catania in Sicily.

Two members of the Ursinus Class of 2009, Alex Peay and Thomas Russell III, will speak on leadership at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 in Unity House, with a talk titled “Exploring the Challenges & Possibilities of Black Male Leadership.”

Alex Peay has made a name as president and founder of Rising Sons, based in Philadelphia.

The non-profit organization’s mission is to empower underprivileged youth through personal and professional development while building their communities through service, reversing the negative trends of the urban communities.

Through personal attention and guidance, the group’s leaders build the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed, and provide the resources and opportunities to excel.

Russell is an attorney with DLA Piper LLP.

In a talk 7 p.m. Feb. 21 sponsored by the Ursinus Arts & Lectures program and the department of environmental studies, Dr. Judith A. Carney, UCLA professor of geography, presents “In the Shadow of Slavery: Peoples, Plants, and Agro-ecological Practices in the Americas.”

The program will be in Pfahler Hall, Musser auditorium.

Carney is the author of two acclaimed books: “Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas” (2001, Harvard University Press) and “In the Shadow of Slavery: Africa’s Botanical Legacy in the Atlantic World” (2009, University of California Press).

Her research examines the ways that the slave trade facilitated the movement of peoples, plants, and farming practices and technologies between Africa and diverse locations in the Americas.

She is also an expert on the role of gender in food production and agricultural systems in West Africa. She will speak about her research on the botanical and agricultural legacy of Africans in the Americas, tracing the ways that the movement of slaves and their practices facilitated the rise of new communities and landscapes.

This lecture is presented in conjunction with “Grass Roots - African Origins of an American Art,” an exhibition at the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art that explores the impact of African coiled basket-making on aspects of economic development in the American South, as well as the present-day environmental and sociological threats to the communities who create this art form.

Roger Lee, a 2010 Ursinus College graduate, is founder, director and choreographer of Roger Lee Dance Company in Philadelphia. Lee will perform with vocalist Sasha Carvalho, class of 2015, to present “Dancing Through Our History” in the Lenfest Theater in the Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center Feb. 28 at 7 p.m.

Lee has some 12 years of professional dance experience as a performer, teacher, choreographer, director, producer, consultant, and writer and has worked with The Rock School of Dance Education, Koresh School of Dance and Dance Magazine. He holds a master’s degree in arts administration from Drexel University.

Lee recently wrote about the lack of African-American audiences for concert dance for Dance/USA’s e-journal. Dance/USA is the national service organization for the dance field.